Ex-Norman Car Dealership Executive Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Court Proceedings

OKLAHOMA CITY – United States Attorney Robert J. Troester announced that BOBBY CHRIS MAYES, 50, of Norman, pleaded guilty last Friday to two counts of tampering with official proceedings. 

Public records reflect that Mayes was the former owner of the Big Red Dealerships (Big Red Sports/Imports, Big Red Kia, Norman Yamaha, Norman Mitsubishi, and Mayes Kia).  On November 19, 2021, Mayes was convicted along with two co-defendants, including Courtney Dawn Wells, by a federal jury in Western District of Oklahoma Case Number CR-20-240-F.  At that nearly three-week trial, Mayes was convicted of conspiring to commit wire fraud, 12 counts of wire fraud, six counts of uttering forged securities, and aggravated identity theft.  Mayes is awaiting sentencing in that case.

Mayes was later indicted based on allegations that, from April through October of 2022, he tampered with the official proceedings in Case Number CR-20-240-F.  More specifically, the indictment alleged Mayes orchestrated and helped to secure the unavailability of a key participant in the proceeding, fabricated e-mails and other evidence in an effort to secure a new trial in that prior case, and sent an anonymous e-mail to the Court as part of an effort to obtain a new trial in Case Number CR-20-240-F.   

On June 23, 2023, Mayes appeared before United States District Court Judge Stephen Friot and pleaded guilty to two counts of tampering with official proceedings, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government.  At the plea hearing, Mayes admitted he had helped to convince co-defendant Courtney Wells to flee to Mexico while they were awaiting sentencing and that he provided financial support for her flight.  Wells and her companion, Brandon Landers, were later located in Mexico and returned to the United States.  Landers was indicted and pleaded guilty on December 6, 2022, to conspiring to tamper with official proceedings based on his involvement in helping Wells flee to Mexico.  Both Landers and Wells are awaiting sentencing in their respective cases.  

At the plea hearing, Mayes also admitted he had sent an anonymous e-mail to the Court and others in early October 2022, in which he made untrue allegations about government conduct, in an effort to interfere with the ongoing proceedings.  That anonymous e-mail was later used to attempt to delay certain parts of the case.

 With each count of tampering with Court proceedings, Mayes faces a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  Mayes now awaits sentencing to be set at a later date for his fraud-related convictions and for the plea to tampering with Court proceedings. 

This case is the result of an investigation by FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Snyder and Jacquelyn Hutzell are prosecuting the case.